My Son Sanctuary

My Son Sanctuary is located in Duy Phu Commune, Duy Xuyen District, Quang Nam Province, about 69 km from Da Nang City and near Tra Kieu Ancient Citadel, including many Cham Pa temples, in a valley about 2 km in diameter, surrounded by hills. This was once the place where the Champa dynasty held ceremonies. My Son Sanctuary is considered one of the main Hindu temple centers in Southeast Asia and is the only heritage of this genre in Vietnam.

It is often compared to other major temple complexes in Southeast Asia such as Borobudur (Java, Indonesia), Pagan (Myanmar), Wat Phou (Laos), Angkor Wat (Cambodia) and Prasat Hin Phimai (Thailand). Since 1999, My Son Sanctuary has been selected by UNESCO as one of the modern and contemporary world heritages at the 23rd session of the World Heritage Committee according to criterion C (II) as a typical example of cultural exchange and according to criterion C (III) as the only evidence of a vanished Asian civilization. Currently, this place has been included in the list of 23 national monuments of special importance by the Prime Minister of Vietnam. My Son was probably started to be built in the 4th century.

Over the centuries, the Sanctuary was supplemented with large and small towers and became the main relic of Champa culture in Vietnam. In addition to its ceremonial function, helping dynasties approach the Gods, My Son was also the cultural and religious center of the Champa dynasties and the burial place of powerful kings and priests. The first relics found date back to the reign of King Bhadravarman I (Pham Ho Dat) (reigned from 381 to 413), who built a Sanctuary to worship linga and Shiva. My Son was heavily influenced by India both in architecture (shown through the towers that are immersed in the glory of the past), and in culture—shown through the ancient Sanskrit inscriptions on the stelae. Based on other stelae, it is known that there was once a first temple here, made of wood, in the 4th century. More than 2 centuries later, the temple was destroyed in a major fire. In the early 7th century, King Sambhuvarman (Pham Phan Chi) (reigned from 577 to 629) used bricks to rebuild the temple that still exists today (perhaps after moving the capital from Khu Lat to Tra Kieu). The following dynasties continued to repair the old towers and build new ones to worship the gods. Bricks are a good material to preserve the memories of a mysterious people; and the Cham people's construction techniques for these towers remain a mystery to this day. No suitable answers have yet been found about the binding materials, brick firing methods and construction methods. The towers and tombs date from the 7th to the 14th centuries, but excavation results show that Cham kings were buried here from the 4th century.

The total number of architectural works is over 70. My Son Sanctuary could be the religious and cultural center of the Champa state when the capital of this country was Tra Kieu or Dong Duong. After the decline of the Champa kingdom, My Son Sanctuary was forgotten for centuries, until 1885, it was discovered. Ten years later, researchers began to conduct clearance and research on this relic site. The research of French scientists on My Son can be divided into two stages: By 1904, the most basic documents on My Son were published by L. Finot and H. Parmentier. T

The Sanctuary consists of many tower clusters, each tower cluster has a main tower (Kalan) in the middle and many small auxiliary towers surrounding it. Kalan usually worships Linga (genital organ) or Shiva statue. In front of each tower cluster is a gate tower (Gopura), followed by a vestibule (Mandapa), a construction item whose function is to arrange offerings and perform ritual dances. Next to it is an architecture that always faces North (the direction of the god of wealth Kuvera), consisting of 1 or 2 rooms, called Kósa Grha used to store offerings and food (feasts) for the gods.[1] The towers are all pyramid-shaped, symbolizing the holy Meru peak, the residence of Hindu gods. The tower gate usually faces East to receive sunlight.

Many of the towers have beautiful architecture with images of gods decorated with various patterns. Most of these structures are now in ruins, but here and there, there are still sculptures bearing the golden mark of the legendary Champa dynasties. The main temples in My Son worship a set of lingas or images of Shiva - the guardian god of the Champa kings.

At My Son Sanctuary, there is a temple built of stone, it is also the only stone temple of the Cham relics. The stele at My Son says that this temple was last restored with stone in 1234. But unfortunately the construction was not completed. When the French discovered My Son, it had the foundation as it is today, above it was a giant pile of bricks that they had to clear for 2 months to finish (according to My Son Circle, author Parmentier, 1904). Today, this temple has collapsed (perhaps due to American bombs during the Vietnam War, because right next to the tower is a deep bomb crater with traces still left) but its foundation system shows that it is over 30 m high and this is the tallest temple of this Sanctuary.

Documents collected around the temple area suggest that this was most likely the site of the first temple in the 4th century. The first conservation work was carried out in 1937 by French scientists. Between 1937 and 1938, temple A1 and the surrounding small temples were restored. In the following years, between 1939 and 1943, towers B5, B4, C2, C3, D1, D2 were restored and reinforced. However, many towers and tombs (including the once magnificent complex A with tower A1 - consisting of the main tower A1, 24 meters high and 6 surrounding sub-towers, destroyed in 1969) were destroyed during the Vietnam War.

Most of the temples in the central groups of areas such as B, C and D still exist, and although many of the statues, altars and lingas were taken to France during the colonial period or have recently been transferred to museums such as the Vietnam History Museum, the Ho Chi Minh City Museum and the Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture, a third museum was established in two temples with the help of Germans and Poles to display models of the remaining tombs and artifacts. On March 24, 2005, Quang Nam province held the inauguration ceremony of the exhibition house, introducing the My Son relics with an area of 5,400 m² with the main exhibition house of 1,000 m² right at the entrance to the relics (about 1 km) funded by a non-refundable grant from Japan.

However, there are still concerns about the condition of the structures, some of which are at risk of collapse. Between 2002 and 2004, the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture and Information spent about VND7 billion (USD440,000) on an emergency restoration project at My Son Sanctuary; a UNESCO project supported by the Italian government with USD800,000 and current restoration efforts funded by Japan are also helping to prevent their deterioration.

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